Piggy Predicament

While some may refer to our swine operation as a factory farm we do not have factory hours. While most people either enjoy a half day of work or no work at all on Saturdays, it's just another day to a farmer. What began as a day of laying irrigation pipe and doing pig chores became a frantic relay race with the clock ticking.

First, three pieces of irrigation pipe had been damaged. Of course, the guys don't find this out until they do a test run and discover some leaks. So, they have to take practically the whole thing apart, fetch new pipes, and put the whole thing back together again. This isn't a garden hose either, folks. We are talking about six-inch aluminum piping that literally runs over the hill and through the buck-brush all the way across the field. It's some serious chizz to take this thing apart and put it back together. So, what started as a be-done-by-two job ended up lasting until after four o'clock.

Here's where I come in:

There I was, minding my own business, preparing supper. Frozen burger paddies in one hand and a bag of charcoal in the other when my husband, Aaron, bursts through the door. He was in such a hurry that I don't even thing he put the truck in park before he leaped out. It was a tuck and roll situation.

Aaron:
What're you doing? What do you have going on?
Me:
It's after five, Aaron. I'm getting ready to fix supper.
Aaron:
What? Supper? No, we don't have time for that. Throw some snacks at the kids and lets go.
Me:
Huh?
Aaron:
I gotta pig emergency and I need help. Let's go. Have they ate?
Me:
The patties are still frozen in my hand. So, no. No one has ate.
Aaron:
Right. Throw some snacks at the kids and lets go.
Me:
I got that part. Calm down.

You can imagine how well the conversation went after that. So, instead of munching down some tasty grill burgars with asperagus and potatoes, the children had cold-cut sandwiches and I went without. The charcoal returned to the basement, feeling abandoned, and the frozen patties in my hand returned to their home in the freezer, feeling cold. Away we flew to the land beyond with shining white tin and lush flowing fields green (and brown, we really need some rain). Into the pigs we go.

At this point I still have no idea what the emergency is or even what I am supposed to be doing. I just slip into my fancy rubber boots and slide on my fashionable blue coveralls and hope for the best. Turns out that a feed auger in the barn needed to be repaired. So our job was to first manuver pigs around to get as many as we could out of the pin that the feed motor was in. Armed with pretty plastic sort boards we begin the hearding process. I have a huge bruise on my knee as a result of a 200 pound pig that decided he did not want to go the same direction as everyone else. Oh, well. No worse for wear. The second job requires Aaron to teader on a plastic bucket while he fights with some bolts and a heavy motor. My job during this is to make sure the remaining pigs in the pin do not chew on Aaron or his tools. Have I mentioned we are on slatted floors? That means anything you happen to drop is forever lost...like Aaron's pliers and his previous pliers and several bolts. I think there might be a cell phone down there too. Well, after everthing is replaced (luckily his brother showed up just in time to help hold the motor and what-nots) the pigs had feed again and Aaron could finally calm down.

All-in-all it was a good time...well, sort of but not really. The point is the pigs come first and we gave up our supper time to ensure the pigs got their supper time.

Farmers care about their livestock and that's the truth!

More on Advocating Agriculture

Recently, an article in Pork Network's newsletter was brought to my attention regarding how important it is for farmers and ranchers to "open up" to the public. Too often we forget how fortunate we are to be part of this amazing process called farming. However, we must keep in mind that 98 percent of this nation are not connected to agriculture other than what they see, read, or hear in the media or on the Internet. In this day and age of animal rights activists attacking animal ag and consumers' increasing concerns for the environment we need to put ourselves out there in order to help educate the public. They will not understand what we do or how we do it if someone does not take the initiative to educate them.

On that note, here is an agvocating recap:

In a previous post, Agvocating is Essential  and in a Suite101 article, Agvocating: Harvesting Social Media I highlight some of the basic ways to advocate agriculture but I would like you to keep in mind, you do not have to be a full time farmer or farm hundreds of acres to agvocate. You could blog about your neighbors' farm (with their permission, of course). This is not only a great way to learn about farming for yourself but also to get to know your neighbors better. You could blog about your gardening and the local farmer's market. You could keep up on Ag news and post your own commentary about recent headlines. You could even blog about your own questions, concerns, and curiosities about agriculture and then follow up with what you have found out. The blogging possibilities are endless, just use your imagination and start typing.


Videos are an amazing way to agvocate. They can be serious and show specific aspects of farming or...



They can be a bit goofy (maybe even dorky) while still making a point.


Videos are a huge part of agvocating because YouTube gets so many hits and you don't need to be an award winning director to produce a great YouTube video. In fact, it has been my experience that people prefer the rough-around-the-edges approach. Think of how huge reality shows have become and it makes sense, people want real life. You don't have to be doing anything exiting either. Keep in mind the daily chores you find mundane are actually fascinating to the masses because it is all totally new to them. Just film your cows grazing, someone throwing feed to pigs, or milking a cow, just about anything will work. If you don't have a YouTube account they are really easy to start and your information is kept secure, only the info that you allow will be available to others. If you've never uploaded a video and don't know how I'll bet your kids, grand kids, or the neighbor's kid could help you out. You can also leave me a message in the comments and I can try to answer any questions you may have or at least direct you to someone who can answer your questions.

Take a look at the BaconCam Channel for some more video ideas. What do you do to agvocate? What videos would you like to see about farming? Do you have an Ag blog you would like to share? Leave the link in the comments.

There's A Pig in My Bacon

As a Missouri pork producer, family farmer, mother, wife, and concerned consumer I feel it is my duty to call to your attention the frightening and somewhat ridiculous fact that the American people do not realize bacon and ham come from pigs. Shocking as this may seem, it is the only explanation that I can come up as to why the purchase of pork steak, pork roast, pork loin, pork chops, pork etc. drastically declined during the 2009 so-called "swine flu" panic, while bacon and ham actually increased in sales. Alternatively, since those products didn't have the word "pork" in their name, consumers may have felt that that particular section of the hog was unaffected by the flu virus. Not that you can get the flu from eating meat, unless of course, someone sneezed on it but this could too be the explanation, however unlikely.

I also feel that as a writer and agvocate (ag + advocate for those of you who don't tweet) I have a moral obligation to shed some light on the subject of swine. It is my moral duty to tell the world--or at least the American public--that there is, in fact, a pig in your bacon. The people have a right to know and I will uphold that right. Not only am I proclaiming the truth of your bacon's origins, I am going to tell you how that pig got in your bacon in the first place. The people need to know and it is high time the truth was told straight from the hogs mouth.

Stay tuned for more on this developing story...

Hold On To Your Hams--Exciting News

Great news!! The Bacon Blogger has now been viewed in four, count 'em, four countries. But that is only part one of my exciting news. What is part two, you may ask.......

THE PIGGIES ARE COMING!!! THE PIGGIES ARE COMING!!!

Yep folks, our piglets will be arriving tomorrow and we can't wait. I even took a few days off work so I could help with the piggies. Our kids are looking forward to playing with the little snouts too.

Hold on to your hams folks, that's not all!!! There is a part three.....

Photo courtesy of PorkConnection

We will be introducing the BaconCam to YouTube in the next few days. Don't worry bloggers, I will provide a link to every video. The BaconCam will show tours of the farm and the ins and outs of hog production. Everything from how we feed them to what we do with the feed after it comes back out of them. We want to share the process with you all so everyone can see what it takes to get that bacon on your BLT.

Photo from Amazon.com

Phew! I can't take this much excitement.

Do you have something special you would like to see on the BaconCam? Drop your suggestions in the comments section and we will do our best to show what you are most curious about. See you on the Flip side.

Farming--A Business That Cares

A Small Loss, A Big Lesson Learned

by Matthew & Erin Sweet

We are a small scale pastured poultry operation, meaning our chickens live outside exposed to all of the elements. Because of this we can only raise our birds during certain times of the year. We learned a tough lesson today. Upon returning home from our state YF&R summer meeting, we spoke to the young man who cared for our birds this weekend. Though he made sure that the birds had constant access to water, the over 100* temperatures claimed 30 of our birds on Saturday. This is a reminder of why mainstream animal production needs to continue using climate controlled buildings to house their animals. Though the breed of chicken we raise is better suited for the pasture, it still does not make them invincible. These birds are just like humans and always function better under optimal conditions. Our chickens have one job and that is to eat, drink and be merry. If the temperature gets too high, their main focus shifts to staying cool and everything else becomes secondary. Our job as the farmer is to do everything in our power to keep the conditions optimal, so that the birds have no concerns. But as state laws continue to become more restrictive on animal housing, we have to ask ourselves, whose best interests are really at hand?

This is a great post from the Farm Bureau's blog, FBlog. It really illustrates the importance of housing animals in climate controlled environments. Yes, animals are naturally meant to be outdoors but look at dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, snakes, etc. None of these animals are naturally domesticated pets nor are they naturally meant to sleep at the foot of our beds, but they do. Why? Because people care about their pets so much that they want them to be part of their family. We as farmers care about our livestock and want them to remain comfortable, safe, and alive no matter the weather. That is why we house them in climate controlled barns.

Some will argue that it isn't their comfort we care about, it's how fat we can get them in the shortest amount of time. I'll be the first to admit we are running a business. Yes, we have a certain time limit to get our pigs to market. Yes, we want them to be of proper market weight within that time limit--not too big, not too small. Yes, economics play into our everyday lives but does that mean we don't care about our animals? Hell NO! I've never seen any group of people work so hard for so little. Farmers put in more hours of hard physical labor than most Americans spend complaining about their 40 or less hours a week. And for what? For crops that don't always come up and have to be replanted and replanted and replanted. For people who don't complain while they're scarfing down that ninth slice of bacon but by golly they're gonna harp when it suits their agenda. For no respect and little money for the time invested; would farmers farm if they didn't care? I think not. Farming is a way of life and a business.

Just because people are starting to see farming as a business they automatically assume that it's all about the money now. Here is a news flash--farming has always been a business. But for people to claim we don't care about our animals is unfair and completely untrue. See one of my past posts, My Fine Swine, for an example of how much we care. The fact that producers are constantly finding newer, better, safer, more reliable means to raising animals is a testament of how much we care about our animals.

If we didn't care the term "agvocacy" and blogs like this one wouldn't exist.